Get ready for a future of capacitive MacBooks and shape-shifting keyboards
With no official word on what exactly the next MacBook will look like, speculation is at an all-time high, fueled by a mix of more or less consistent, yet unconfirmed rumors, patent discoveries, and marketing predictions. With 2017 looming on the horizon, Apple is expected to make at least one big Mac announcement, after a long period of incremental upgrades to the MacBook, and persistent focus on the iPad and iPhone, before the year ends.
One rumor in particular poses a big question on what exactly the next MacBook Pro will look like. Anonymous sources cited by the Wall Street Journal seem to converge on a new keyboard design by Sonder Design Pty. based in New South Wales, Australia. The company, backed by China-based Apple supplier Foxconn International, is developing a programmable keyboard capable of changing its keys configuration to different layouts, using e-Ink technology embedded in each key, which works in a similar way to the Kindle e-Reader.
While this type of keyboard design is not new, the use of e-Ink is rapidly becoming the most viable way to accomplish visual feedback when changing layout configuration on a keyboard. Current designs feature LED technology, but are still quite expensive due to the novelty and color support, with some products supporting only a limited group of keys. Sonder is planning to hit the shelves with a proprietary keyboard for $199, set to compete with other products like the Optimus Polaris, priced at $1500, and the Razer DeathStalker, priced at $250.
It’s possible that such design will be featured in future MacBook models, and possibly in future Mac desktop accessories, but the chances of this design to be included into the next MacBook, rumored to be announced during a plausible, yet unconfirmed Apple keynote on October 27th, are quite slim.
Sonder’s keyboard design may some day be implemented alongside Apple’s own Fusion Keyboard patented design, which replaces mechanical keys with capacitive ones, using haptic feedback, similarly to the Force Touch trackpad.
By this token, future MacBook keyboards may some day be completely reprogrammable, with instantaneous visual feedback, and be as capacitive as the touchscreen of an iPad. Furthermore, there might be the possibility that these new keyboards will integrate keyboard-wide Touch-ID functionality, to allow for fast unlocking of macOS, without the need to pair the device with an Apple Watch.
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